I owe your Family a debt
by Rivan Warrioress
Summary: Gendry confesses to Davos why he was so quick to decide to follow Davos out of Kings Landing, and why he refused to lie to Jon Snow about who he was. Davos encourages Gendry to come clean to Jon
1. Chapter 1

The ship rocked gently beneath them as they sailed northwards, the wind favoring them, speeding their journey north. Still, already there was a bite to the air that hadn't been present in Kings Landing or Dragonstone…the chill of winter. It was enough to make Davos pull his cloak a little tighter around himself as he walked along the deck, his gaze fixed on a solitary figure leaning casually against the railing, gazing northwards.

"Are you going to explain to me why you were so quick to join this fool's errand?" Davos asked Gendry as he drew level with the younger man, leaning against the rail in an identical manner to Gendry.

Gendry shrugged, "I told you in King's Landing, I needed to do something that wasn't making Lannister weapons."

"Uh huh, and what else?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"Why didn't you do as I told you, about leaving your identity a secret?" Davos enquired. Gendry shrugged, before looking back over his shoulder, towards where Jon was standing.

"You've never met him before, he's never been to Kings Landing before, what sort of loyalty do you owe Jon Snow without you ever having met him?"

Gendry sighed, returning his gaze northward, and Davos couldn't help but notice that the younger man's gaze seemed slightly clouded over with tears.

"I owe you my life, I would be dead if I'd stayed at Dragonstone with the Red Woman. You asked me for help, you were one of the only ones to show me any kindness my whole life, of course I would do anything you asked."

"Alright," Davos allowed, "that explains why you're here, now why did you tell Jon the truth about who you are?"

Gendry looked down at his hands and took a shaky breath, "because I couldn't bring myself to lie to a Stark."

Davos frowned, "What have the Starks ever done for you? Especially to inspire that sort of loyalty."

"The only other person to ever show me kindness…my best friend. I abandoned her, and now she's dead. Ever since I heard about what happened, when I was back in Kings Landing, I've blamed myself. Chances are I wouldn't have been able to save her, but every day I think of the look on her face the last time we saw her, as the Red Woman had me taken away. She knew we were never going to see each other again."

"In Stannis' dungeon you said you'd never talked to a woman," murmured Davos, remembering his short conversation with Gendry, reminiscing about growing up in Flea bottom.

"She wasn't a woman…not yet anyway. At first I just found her annoying…that was before I knew who she really was. I was the only one that realized she was a girl, I confronted her on it, and she told me who she was. I couldn't believe we'd all been pissing in front of her…cussing in front of her. She'd never let on that she was highborn."

"Who?"

"Arry…Arya."

"You…you know Jon Snow's sister?" Davos choked out in surprise.

Gendry nodded, "After Ned Stark was executed there was a group of us that were supposed to go and serve at the wall. Yoren, the man of the Night's Watch that was supposed to take us up, was going to drop Arya off at Winterfell along the way to the Wall, but we were ambushed by Lannister soldiers, and Yoren and some of the others were killed. The rest of us were taken to Harrenhal. I won't go into much detail about what happened there, but Arya arranged our escape. The three of us headed north, heading towards Robb and his army, or, failing that, Winterfell itself, and failing that, the Wall, where Arya hoped to find Jon. She was always talking about him, her favorite brother, she said. Anyway, we were taken in by the Brotherhood without Banners…they had no idea who she was, until the Hound was captured, and he recognized Arya. They decided that they were going to take her to her brother Robb Stark, and Arya asked me to go with her, serve her brother, as a Blacksmith is the Northern Army. I said no, that with the brotherhood I would have a chance at having a family, where nobody would care that I was a nobody from Kings Landing. She said that she could be my family." Gendry chuckled and shook his head, "I told her that she couldn't be my family, she'd be M'Lady."

Davos stood in silence, watching Gendry's face, the emotions warring across the young Baratheon Bastards features.

"Then the Red Woman came, and the Brotherhood sold me to her…they were no different to all those other highborn bastards. Arya watched as Stannis' men carted me away…alone…scared…with the Brotherhood without Banners. When I got back to Kings Landing I heard about the Red Wedding, how all the Starks had been killed at The Twins, betrayed by the Boltons and the Freys…and I knew that she was dead, and that I should have stayed with her, tried to protect her. She saved us by getting us out of Harrenhal, and how did we repay her…by abandoning her."

"Arya Stark is alive, Gendry," Davos offered in a gentle voice. Gendry's arm slipped off the rail in shock and he stood bolt upright.

"What!"

"Aye, Jon received a letter just the other day from Winterfell. Lady Arya is back at Winterfell, safe and sound, or, well, as safe as sound as anyone can be with what is beyond the wall."

"She…she's alive?"

"Aye," Davos nodded, "And let me tell you, Jon very much wanted to visit Winterfell on his way North and see her."

"She…she made it back home to Winterfell. It's all she wanted," Gendry smiled, "well, that and to kill the people on her list

Davos frowned at the comment, but chose to ignore it, guessing there was some sort of story or inside joke there, "so, that was why you were so quick to trust Jon, because you'd heard his sister talk about him."

"And to try and make up to her and her family for how I abandoned her, even when she asked me not to."

"If it makes you feel better, I know the Red Woman…even if you had chosen to stay with Arya, she wouldn't have left you roaming the country. She wanted you, Gendry, and nothing would have gotten in her way. Baratheon blood was getting increasingly more difficult to find. Even now, from all accounts I've heard, you might well be the last Stag left."

Gendry looked at his War Hammer with the antlers marking it as his, "I never wanted to be legitimized; I know that I'm a bastard, I don't need some name of a man I've never met."

"And yet you let Jon Snow know right away who you were."

"I wasn't going to lie to Arya's brother," argued Gendry,

"No, and I respect you for that," Davos agreed, "What I meant was…don't feel bad about what happened between you and the lass. Even if you had chosen to stay with her the Red Woman would have still taken you away from her, and any sign of loyalty shown by you to Arya may well have put her in more danger than she was in already. If she'd been taken to there is no guarantee that she'd be back at Winterfell right now."

Gendry nodded, visibly relaxing, and going back to gazing northwards, "Do you think I'll ever see her again?"

"Assuming we survive this mission, it is a possibility. I must admit, I would like to see Lady Arya myself. Jon was quite shaken to hear she was alive, and your own story paints her in a favorable light."

"If you do get to meet her, don't call her 'm'lady,'" Gendry advised with a chuckled, "it is likely to get you pushed over…at the least. She's small, but she's got a short temper, and she knows how to hurt someone."

"I'll remember that," Davos replied, "I just have one more question."

"Nothing good ever came from asking questions," Gendry sighed, and Davos had a feeling it was somthign Gendry had said to someone before.

"Why haven't you told Jon about knowing his sister?"

Gendry coughed, and looked sideways at Davos, "are you mad? Tell him, the King in the North, that I a Bastard Blacksmith, was friends with his sister, that I traveleld with her, slept beside her…not like that…" gendry quickly added, although his cheeks tinged pink, and Davois blinked.

"You…you were in love with her."

"No..it wasn't love. We were both too young for that…especially her."

"But…now?"

"I….I don't know. I think about her every day, every night….she way she used to call me names, the way she used to try and bluff us out of situations…her stubbornness…her bravery."

"You admired her, and it might well have one day turned into love, once you were both older," Davos summarized, 'it doesn't make you a criminal, and I daresay that Jon would be happy to hear some stories about his sister. Besides, it's a long voyage to Eastwatch…how else are you going to fill the time, gaze broodingly out at the sea?"

"Maybe."

"Or you could tell Jon…and why, here he comes now, no time like the present."

"What" Gendry almost yelped, whipping around to see Jon Snow approaching the pair of men.

"Your Grace," Davos greeted with a respectful bow, "excuse me, I was just going to check on some things below deck. I'll leave you with Gendry here," Davos clasped Gendry on his shoulder, before he walked away, leaving the two younger men, the bastard of Ned Stark, and the bastard of Robert Baratheon, to discuss their shared connection…the young Lady Arya Stark.


	2. Chapter 2

"Er, your grace," Gendry stammered, his fingers slipping a little on the handle of the Warhammer, "Nice day, isn't it."

"Yes," Jon agreed, "if the wind remains in our favor we should make good time to Eastwatch."

"That's good, I must admit, I prefer having solid ground beneath my feet."

Jon laughed, "me too," he agreed, "although Davos seems quite at home."

The pair looked back over their shoulders to watch Davos stroll casually back across the deck, although he seemed to turn and caught their eye. He gave them a single nod of encouragement, before he moved smoothly below decks. Jon raised his brow curiously at the gesture. Gendry, however, swallowed nervously.

"My Lord," Gendry began, "I…I have something to admit. I haven't been completely honest with you."

"You're not about to stab me to death, are you?" Jon quickly asked, taking a step away from Gendry.

Gendry, rapidly shook his head and set his Warhammer down on the ground, "No, no, nothing like that," he reassured, "I mean…when I told you that I'd met your father. I mean, I have met him, but he wasn't the only member of your family that I met."

Jon frowned, "who else have you met, there aren't many of us that have been to Kings Landing."

"I wasn't always in Kings Landing," Gendry admitted, Ser Davos met me on Dragonstone, but I've been as far North as the Riverlands, the Crossroads I think was the furthest North I ever got, but I spent a bit of time at Harrenhal."

"You see any ghosts while you were there?" Jon asked jokingly.

Gendry shook his head, "not real ghosts," he replied, "But I saw some horrible things there, although it did improve a little once Tywin Lannister took over…we weren't being tortured to death anymore."

"I guess that could be an improvement," Jon offered with a nod.

"He was one of the only ones who saw through her disguise and realized that she was a girl, because of her hair and her clothes, I suppose. He never realized who exactly she was though. I think things would have turned out a lot different if he'd realized he had Arya Stark as his cupbearer. She told him that she was the daughter of a Stonemason and a lady in waiting to house Dustin. After we escaped we couldn't beelive that she'd managed to trick him."

Jon's eyes were wide with shock, and he'd gone silent with surprise, "Arya? You know Arya?"

Gendry nodded, and told Jon exactly what he'd told Gendry, from his meeting and protecting Arya the day they met, the day the Ned Stark had been executed in front of her, to their travels North with the Nights Watch recruits, to Yoren's death, to Harrenhal, to the Brotherhood, and finishing with their separation. Jon said nothing throughout the entire story, and he stayed silent long after Gendry had finished, his mind trying to comprehend everything Gendry had revealed.

"Your grace?" Gendry gently prompted, er, do you want me to go, or…"

"No, stay," Jon looked Gendry in the eye, "You can stay by my side for as long as you like. Thank-you for everything you've done for my sister, keeping her secret, protecting her identity…for being there for her when there was no-one else….when I wasn't there for her. For years I've thought that Arya was dead, it eases my heart to know that, for at least some of the time she was missing, she was with friends."

"Davos told me she was back in Winterfell."

Jon nodded, "Sansa wrote that she just turned up out of the blue on day, arrived at the gate like she haddn't been missing for years. Bran did much the same thing only a few short days earlier."

"Maybe it's a family trait."

Jon snorted, "Maybe," he agreed.

"She often spoke about you, how you were her favorite brother, how you were the only one who saw her for what she wanted to be, what she was, not who she was supposed to be…a lady."

"She never looked down on me because I was a bastard. She never treated me any different. She used to say that she and I were the outcasts of the family. When she was still very small she was convinced that she was a bastard too, because she and I looked so much alike. Father had to explain what bastard meant to her, but she never cared. I was the first one she smiled at as a baby, she took her first steps towards father and I. I will never forget the day we both left Winterfell, her for Kings Landing, and me, going to the wall."

"You gave her that sword of hers…Needle," Gendry nodded.

Jon looked towards Gendry in surprise, "she still has it?"

Gendry shook his head, "not anymore, they took it from her when we were captured by the Lannisters." he explained.

"She was so excited to see it, I had it made especially for her."

"If we make it back from beyond the wall, and back to Winterfell, I could make her a new sword, if you like."

"I…I think she would like that." Jon nodded, "She's going to need it, if the wall is breeched."

"She'll make good use of it, I'm sure," Gendry replied, "of the three of us she was the best swordsperson, and she kept trying to give me pointers. Stand side face, she said, it's a smaller target."

"Well, she's not wrong there," Jon laughed, "I'm surprised she didn't start with Stick 'em with the pointy end. That's what I told her."

"She told me that too," Gendry confessed, "Must admit though, the lessons never stuck. That's why I went with this," he nudged his war hammer with his foot, "I grew up in the blacksmiths forge, using hammers to make armor and weapons for Kings Landing…seemed to make sense that I would use an hammer in battle."

"They say that Robert Baratheon was a skilled warrior with a war hammer in hand, it's how he defeated Rhaegar Targaryen."

"So, a Stark with a Valyrian steel sword, and a Baratheon with a War Hammer, going into battle together," mused Gendry.

"History has a funny way of repeating itself," Jon shrugged, a thoughtful look on his face. He looked sideways at Gendry, "They say that Arya looks much like our aunt Lyanna, and has a similar personality as well, according to our father. She was betrothed to Robert, before the war, did you know that?"

Gendry blushed, realizing what Jon was implicating, "Your Grace?"

Jon shook his head, "You're obviously fond of Arya still, I can tell from the way you talk about her. Maybe, one day, you can be reunited. I'm not going to even think about betrothing Arya to anyone, she can make her own choice about that, but know this, she's never had any bad thoughts about bastards before."

With that Jon chuckled and clasped Gendry on the shoulder, "Thank you for telling me about your time with Arya. It…it has brightened my heart, and given me hope for the times ahead."

Jon turned and walked away, and Gendry watched him go, before giving one last look at the ocean to the north, before he picked up his Warhammer and followed the King of the North…Arya's brother.

And for the first time in years, Gendry felt as though Arya might just be proud of him.


End file.
